Cederberg Information
The Cederberg Area lies some 200km north of Cape Town. This vast region, encompasses some 162 000 hectare of rugged, mountainous terrain, stretching from the Pakhuis Pass in the north to Grootrivier in the south. The San and Khoi peoples inhabited the Cederberg area from early times, leaving behind a rich legacy of rock art.
European settlers began stock farming in the Cederberg in the eighteenth century, and in 1876 a forester was appointed to oversee Crown Land in the mountains. This was possibly the first attempt at conservation in the Cederberg. From 1903 to 1973, exploitation of the Cederberg's natural resources was rampant. Large amounts of cedar wood, rooibos tea, buchu and rockwood bark was harvested while farmers used the mountains to graze livestock in times of drought. Large numbers of cedar trees were felled as the wood was in great demand for construction - some 7 200 trees were used as telephone poles between Piketberg and Calvinia. Fires added to this destruction and the cedar tree is now on the brink of extinction. In 1967 the removal of dead cedar trees was halted, and other forms of exploitation ended in 1973 with the proclamation of Cederberg Wilderness Area.
Today the Cederberg Conservancy exists as a voluntary agreement between landowners to manage the environment in a sustainable manner. Conservation goals are achieved through cooperation and dedication towards the conservation of Nature on private land.
The Cederberg Conservancy are the proud custodians of the Clanwilliam Cedar (Widderingtonia cederbergensis) and offers refuge to the rare Cape Leopard.
